Manufacturer of equipment and tools for semiconductor assembly, wire bonding, advanced packaging and dispensing
Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc.
New on Amplifa
About Kulicke and Soffa
Kulicke and Soffa (K&S) is a publicly listed manufacturer of semiconductor assembly equipment and electronic interconnection technologies, founded in 1951. The company develops and manufactures production equipment for ball and wedge bonding, thermo-compression bonding (TCB), wafer-level stud bumping, clip attach, advanced dispensing as well as dicing blades and bonding tools such as capillaries and wedge consumables. In terms of processes, K&S covers thermosonic and ultrasonic bonding with gold, copper and aluminium wires (25–500 µm), fluxless Cu-Cu TCB with sub-micron alignment, and vacuum reflow with less than 5 % voiding. Materials and processes include bonding wires made of gold, copper and aluminium, solder paste, epoxy, underfills, encapsulants and thermal interface materials as well as silicon and compound semiconductor materials in wafer dicing. Customer industries include semiconductors, automotive, computing/HPC/AI, memory, communications, industrial, consumer electronics/IoT, aerospace/defence as well as battery and energy applications. Through its global sales and service network (Americas, East Asia, Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia), K&S delivers worldwide and, with K&S Care, offers service contracts, repair, refurbishment, spare parts, software, eTraining and process development.
- Processes
- Thermo-compression bonding (TCB), Cu-to-Cu thermocompression bonding (fluxless, direct copper-copper connection), Fluxless bonding (solder-based interconnects), Ball bonding (wire bonding with gold or copper wire, thermosonic with heat, pressure and), Wedge bonding (ultrasonic wire bonding at room temperature, round wires 25 µm to 500 µm, Vertical wire bonding (vertical wire connections, Vertical Connect process), Ultrasonic pin welding (ultrasonic pin welding without solder), Clip attach (copper clip bonding for power discretes, die attach with solder paste, clip placement,
- Materials
- Gold (bonding wire, stud bumps), Copper (bonding wire, Cu pillar, Cu-Cu bonding, clips), Aluminium (round wire and ribbon for wedge bonding), Solder / solder paste (solder, solder paste, solder caps on copper pillars), Epoxy (die attach), Adhesive / underfill / encapsulant, Thermal interface materials (TIM), Silicon (wafer dicing)
- Founded
- 1951
- Industries
- Semiconductors, Automotive, Computing/HPC/AI, Industrial, Memory, Communications
- 01
Engineering & process development
- 02
Manufacturing of bonding and assembly equipment
- 03
Dispensing and reflow integration
- 04
Software & technical publications
- 05
K&S Care service, repair, refurbishment & spares
Materials & Processes
Gold (bonding wire, stud bumps)
Bonding wire and EFO stud bumps for ball and stud bumping processes, among others for CMOS image sensors and RF modules.
Copper
Bonding wire, Cu pillar, Cu-Cu thermocompression bonding and clips as a cost-efficient, high-performance interconnect solution.
Aluminium
Round wires (25–500 µm) and ribbon wires for ultrasonic wedge bonding at room temperature.
Solder / solder paste
Die attach with solder paste and solder-based interconnects in vacuum reflow with <5 % voiding.
Epoxy / adhesive / underfill / encapsulant
Dispensing materials for die attach, flip-chip underfill and encapsulation for protection and mechanical stabilisation.
Thermal interface materials
Improve heat dissipation in high-performance and AI computing modules.
Silicon and compound semiconductors
Substrates for wafer and package dicing with K&S dicing blades, e.g. SiC for power devices.
Equipment & Technologies
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermo-compression bonding (TCB)Joining | sub-micron alignment accuracy | – | – | – | Copper, Solder |
| Cu-to-Cu thermocompression bonding (fluxless, direct copper-copper connection)Joining | for pitches below approx. 10 µm (interconnect diameter < 5 | – | – | – | Copper |
| Fluxless bonding (solder-based interconnects)Joining | die-to-substrate gap < 30 µm, also for dies from 30 mm | – | – | – | Solder, Copper |
| Ball bonding (wire bonding with gold or copper wire, thermosonic with heat, pressure and)Joining | – | – | – | – | Gold, Copper |
| Wedge bonding (ultrasonic wire bonding at room temperature, round wires 25 µm to 500 µmJoining | wire diameter 25 µm to 500 µm | – | – | – | Aluminium, Copper, Gold |
| Vertical wire bonding (vertical wire connections, Vertical Connect process)Joining | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ultrasonic pin welding (ultrasonic pin welding without solder)Joining | – | – | – | – | – |
| Clip attach (copper clip bonding for power discretes, die attach with solder paste, clip placement,Joining | vacuum reflow with <5 % voiding | – | – | – | Copper, Solder, Epoxy |
| Wafer-level stud bumping (EFO gold stud bumps, standard stud bump and AccuBump™, 200 mm and 300 mmJoining | ±3 µm bump height control | 200 mm wafer | – | – | Gold |
| Dispensing (dispensing of adhesives, underfills, encapsulants, solder paste, epoxy, thermalJoining | – | – | – | – | Adhesive, Underfill, Encapsulant, Solder paste, Epoxy, Thermal interface materials |
| Advanced dispensing (high-speed dispensing and coating)Joining | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wafer dicing / package saw (dicing blades for wafer and package saw applications)Machining | – | – | – | – | Silicon, Compound semiconductor materials |
| Chip-on-wafer bonding (bonding of logic chips and memory stacks onto interposer wafers)Joining | – | – | – | – | – |
| K&S Care (service contracts: Basic/Professional/Comprehensive, preventive maintenance byInspection | – | – | – | – | – |
| Repair, refurbishment and spares (repair, refurbishment, spare parts; bond head refurbishment,Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
13 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clip attach integration line (die dispensing, clip placement, vacuum reflow) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) AVALINE™ platform | – | – | – | – |
| High-speed dual dispenser for die attach with solder paste | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) AVALINE™-D | – | – | – | – |
| Precision clip placement system with theta axis and force monitoring | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) AVALINE™-C | – | – | – | – |
| Vacuum reflow system (<5 % voiding, low-oxygen environment) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) AVALINE™-V | – | – | – | – |
| Wafer-level stud bumping platform | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) ATP Lite™ | – | 200 mm and 300 mm wafers | – | – |
| Wafer-level stud bumping platform | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) ATPremier™ PLUS | – | 200 mm and 300 mm wafers | – | – |
| Wafer-level stud bumping platform | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) ATPremier™ MEM PLUS | – | 200 mm and 300 mm wafers | – | – |
| Automatic wafer handler system (automation option for stud bumping) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Auto Wafer Handler System | – | – | – | – |
| Ball bonder (market leader, Industry 4.0 integration) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) | – | – | – | – |
| Smart bonder (wire bonder series) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) GEN-S Series | – | – | – | – |
| Wire bonder series (power applications) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Power Series | – | – | – | – |
| Advanced dispensing systems (coating and dispensing, high-speed/high-precision) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) | – | – | – | – |
| TCB bonding systems (thermo-compression bonding, control over temperature, pressure and tilt) | Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) | – | – | – | – |
Additional services
History
- 1951
Founding of Kulicke and Soffa
Incorporation of the company
Initial public offering
Entry into flip-chip technology; fastest machine on the market
Expansion into China; strategic acquisitions; launch of the Power Series; further expansion in Asia; technology hub Asia
Launch of the GEN-S Series Smart Bonders; further strategic acquisition; entry into advanced dispensing; fluxless TCB technology (SEMI Award); 75th anniversary